What's Stopping Us Now?
by christylee
Summary: COMPLETED! It's been a while, but Lizzie and Gordo have unexpectedly run into each other again on a busy city street. Can they overcome their past? Will this be a quick hello and goodbye, or the start of something new?
1. Sweet Meet

_Hi! I'm baaa-aaack! Writing Lizzie McGuire fanfiction once again, and it feels so good._

_There have been quite a few changes in my life since I was last here, the most notable being that I have hooked up with fellow LM FF writer Dr. Strange and moved to another state in order to be with him (as well as to escape Hurricane Country!). So I now have a new love, a new job and a new home. All is well, and now that my life is more settled, I hope to once again be able to indulge my creative spirit, churning out fanfiction for your delight, as well as my own._

_I have extensive notes for a story tentatively called Parker's Revenge, which will fit into my Gordo series, but before I go there, I wanted to get my feet wet with a one-shot. However, as I am almost incapable of completing a story within a single chapter, this "one-shot" has turned into four chapters. But it's all sweetness, and I hope you enjoy it._

_You know the drill: I own a Saturn, two adorable cats, and a pull-string Pee Wee doll that laughs obnoxiously and says "I meant to do that!" but I don't own anything from Lizzie McGuire, except the boxed set of the first 22 episodes._

_Enjoy._

"Lizzie?…Lizzie McGuire?"

Liz lurched forward on the tall cracked curb, almost toppling into the busy New York City street. The childish gasp that escaped her glossy lips was worthy of the name she had clearly heard uttered above the urban din.

Lizzie. Lizzie? How long had it been since anyone had called her "Lizzie"? She felt like she was fourteen again. And so, as curious as she was to see who might be calling out that name, she felt equally as flustered.

David Gordon stood at the back of the crowd that was attempting to cross Madison Avenue and East 33rd Street. At this moment he could only see her long silky blonde hair, hanging halfway down her back, now somehow even brighter than he remembered. He had only caught a glimpse of her face, and in one uncharacteristically reckless moment, called out her name. Now he waited, biting his lip, wondering if she would turn, half-hoping she would, and yet half-dreading the same.

The traffic light changed, the crowd pulled forward, and David was taken along for the ride. Taken along, that is, until a moment later he found himself face to face with the most beautiful girl he had ever known. Lizzie McGuire. Yep. This was her. No doubt about it. She was older, prettier, her lashes long, her lips looking so kissable. He knew his mouth hung open and he had no words. Someone pushed him from behind, and as he swayed forward into Lizzie, his hands instinctively reached out to grab hers, to keep her from falling off the curb.

Liz gasped again. For a moment her mind reeled, trying to place this face. It was like the face of a boy she used to know…. **like** this boy, and yet not quite. The boy she had known was much younger, and nowhere near as tall. And that boy had never looked so…so….what **was** that look in his face? She wondered.

"Gordo?" she squeaked out.

Slowly David began to smile, the left side of his face first, followed quickly by the right. If that look in his face had been worry, anxiety, or sadness, now it was gone. Liz smiled too, squeezed his hands, and brought him in close for a hug.

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" she exclaimed. "Gordo! I can't believe it's you! Never in a million years did I think I would ever see you again! What are you **doing** here?"

"I… uh….live here," David answered simply, taking in a deep whiff of her perfume. "NYU, remember? Or maybe you didn't know…?"

"No! I knew. Of course I knew."

"Well, we didn't talk much those last few years of high school, Lizzie, so I wasn't sure---"

"No, no," Liz insisted. "Of course I knew. Everyone was talking about it, about your fabulous scholarship. How could I not know? You were absolutely the smartest kid in our graduating class, Gordo. Well, you or Tudgeman, of course."

David laughed lightly. "Ha, ha. Yeah….Tudgeman…."

"So I knew you were here," Liz went on, "only I just kind of….well, I wasn't thinking….I mean, I've been so….so busy and all, you know…."

"Yes, I know," David said. "I see your face everywhere I go, all the billboards, all the magazines. You're doing very well for yourself."

Lizzie "pshaw-ed."

"Modeling," she said disdainfully. "It pays the bills, I guess. But I won't be young forever. I mean, for Heaven's sake, I'm nearly twenty three, I don't know how much longer---"

"Lizzie," David said, pulling in a deep breath, "you always were, and always will be, the most beautiful girl I've ever laid eyes on. Even when you're eighty. I'm sure of it."

At this point Liz did fall off the curb, and David pulled her back. Regaining her balance, she looked at him, feeling strange. "Gordo…" she said in wonder. He had never said anything like that to her before. She had no idea….

David grinned sheepishly. "Gordo," he repeated with a smirk. "Do you know how long it's been since anyone's called me that?"

"Gordo," Lizzie repeated, grinning and teasing him. "Gordo…Gordo…Do you know how long it's been since anyone's called me Lizzie?"

They were both feeling a bit silly, and then suddenly both extremely aware that they were still holding hands, standing on this curb, as a crowd of people passed by.

"I…uh…." David stammered.

"Yeah, I know," Lizzie agreed absently.

"I think we should….you know…."

"Move?" Lizzie suggested, as a new crowd of potential street-crossers began to build around them.

"At the very least," David agreed. "Though I was thinking more along the lines of…"

He took a deep breath. He wanted to say something, but he was afraid. He felt once again like the foolish boy he had been in high school, so enamored of this beautiful young woman, and yet so afraid to say anything for fear of utter rejection.

"Along the lines of what?" Liz asked, hopefully.

"You know…well…" he began, feeling his hands begin to sweat in hers. "You…uh….mentioned Tudgeman, and I was wondering if you might know anything about how he's doing. And Ethan, and Danny, and Kim and Veruca and….well, I mean, you've been living out there in California these last four years, while I've been here, so I was hoping you might have some word about how everyone's doing---"

"And I want to know about Miranda!" Liz said suddenly, brightly. "You did date Miranda for a while, didn't you? Do you still keep in touch?"

"Occasionally," David admitted.

"So you know things I want to know," Liz reasoned, "and I know things you want to know. So it would be a good idea, don't you think, for the two of us to sit down together for a while and do some catching up?"

"I was….Yes!" David agreed heartily, with a great sigh of relief. "Exactly what I was thinking."

"When?" Liz asked.

David wet his lips, a lump forming in his throat. He had gotten this far. This was unbelievable. He was standing on the corner, holding hands with Lizzie McGuire, his persistent fantasy these last ten years, and she was suggesting they get together. He decided he was going to go for the gold.

"Dinner?" he suggested, boldly. "Tonight?"

As the face of his dreamgirl fell, so did his own. "Oh!" Liz exclaimed. "I'm so sorry, I can't. You see, I'm in town to meet with this producer tonight."

"I understand," David said, feeling his hands begin to get clammy in hers.

"It's Alex Paige, you know, he's a very big deal record producer, though why he can't be out on the West Coast with all the other record producers, I have no idea. Anyway, my agent pulled some strings, sent in this demo we made, and I actually have a meeting with him! You don't know what a big break this could be for me! You see, I don't want to be just a model forever, just another pretty face. I'm hoping to jumpstart a singing career."

"I understand," David repeated, freeing his hands from Liz's. "And I'm sure you'll be great at it. Good luck with that, Lizzie. It was nice seeing---"

"Wait!" Liz called, as David stepped off the curb, ready to allow himself to get caught up in the churning wave of humanity making its way from one side of the street to the other.

"Wait!" Liz repeated, almost frantically, and he turned and looked up at her.

"What are you doing now?" Liz asked.

"Now?" he questioned.

"This moment, I mean. In the next hour or so."

David took a deep breath. "I…uh….well, I was on my way to the library to do some research on my---"

"Can it wait?" Liz asked. "Can you do it later?"

"I…I…"

"Can you come out with me now? Would you like to….I don't know, go somewhere and get a cup of coffee? Can you do that, Gordo? Would you?"

"I…I guess I could make some time," David said, once again grinning from left to right.

Liz smiled as she stepped down into the street next to him, taking his arm.

"Good," she said with a slight wrinkle of her nose as at last they began to cross the street together. "You and I have lots of catching up to do, don't we?"

_Next chapter: Lizzie's Confession_


	2. Lizzie's Confession

_I__n answer to a question posed by Black Knight, this story is rated M for later chapters. It occurs to me that I have never really written about the gang past high school (except for Rosebud, which was kind of a silly story, almost a farce, and doesn't really count), but I suspect as "twenty-somethings" Lizzie and Gordo might find themselves doing more than just kissing. So, this might get a little sexy, but I am also trying to hold to what I call the "sweetness."_

_Once again: I own a black wool coat which I bought for the amazing price of only five dollars at the local thrift store, and it has served me well this past winter, but Disney owns Lizzie McGuire. Be that as it may, I hope you will enjoy this next chapter._

_M_

_M_

_M_

They sat across from each other in a comfortably upholstered booth of an upper East Side diner. The restaurant had been Liz's choice. She told David she sometimes came here with her agent, when she was in town for a photoshoot. David, a resident of mid-Manhattan, had never known till this day that the place existed.

They sat for several hours across from each other, first only sipping coffee, then ordering several slices of cheesecake when the waitress began to give them nasty looks. The cheesecake had long since been consumed, and all their common acquaintances discussed in detail. Miranda, Ethan, Kate, Kim, Eric, Veruca, and even Liz's pesky little brother Matt. Lizzie reported that Mr. Dig was now the Assistant Principal at the new Hillridge High West. David found this highly amusing. And so, they were both totally "caught up," and yet somehow neither seemed willing to make the first move towards leaving the table.

Outside, the afternoon drifted into early evening. Soon the dinner crowd would begin shuffling in. David shuffled in his seat. He remembered Lizzie saying she had a meeting with a producer. He didn't want her to be late, but he also did not want her to leave. These hours were magical to him, bringing back so many buried emotions from only a few short years ago. How much had changed….and yet, surprisingly, how much had not changed at all.

Liz was beaming at David across the table. How easy it was to talk to him! How delightful simply being in his presence, listening to his jokes, watching his bright blue eyes. What a fool she'd been all these years! Such sadness, such regret….and yet she beamed, just to be with him at this moment.

Liz was not thinking about her appointment with Alex Paige. It had completely slipped her mind. Until suddenly her cell phone rang, and she jumped.

"Oooh!" she cried, recognizing the special ringtone she had assigned his office. "Oh my God, David! I have to take this!"

A few "uh-hu's" later, Lizzie snapped her cell phone shut and announced, "Well, guess what? My meeting's been moved forward to tomorrow. Alex has some….charity thing to go to, something like that. Last minute. So I'll be meeting with him in the morning, instead."

David breathed a sigh of relief. "Good! That's good….right?"

"Yes!" Liz agreed brightly. "That's excellent, don't you think?"

"Yes, I do. I mean, now….if you like….you and I could order some dinner, if you're still hungry after all that cheescake, and that would surely get that waitress to stop giving us the evil eye."

Liz giggled. "We really ought to. But I'm not much hungry, are you?"

"No," David said. "No, not at all. I'm just….I feel good. I mean, just being here with you…."

Liz smiled. "I know," she said quietly. "I know what you mean."

After this, there was no further discussion of dinner. In fact, for a few moments, there was no discussion at all. They sat quietly, staring at the table, but then both looked up at the same moment, catching each other's eye. Sad smiles were exchanged.

Liz sighed heavily. "Oh, Gordo," she lamented, sitting forward with her chin in her palm, looking directly at him across the table. "What happened to us?"

David shifted uneasily. "What do you mean, exactly?"

"I mean…us! What happened to us? Once upon a time we were such good friends, remember? Back in junior high. You, me and Miranda. The Three Musketeers. Inseparable, friends forever. What happened to 'forever'?"

David bit his lip. He knew the answer, but they were having such a good time, he didn't want to spoil everything. Yet, one more look at Liz, and already he could see their time together had been spoiled. He couldn't remember ever seeing such melancholy in her eyes.

"It was…you," he said, with a deep, careful breath. "Don't you remember, Lizzie? Almost as soon as we got into high school, you went out for cheerleading, and before you knew it, you were one of the popular girls, and after that….well, Miranda and I didn't see much of you after that, did we?"

"Oh…" Lizzie moaned. "Was I that bad? Really?"

David nodded, painfully. "Yeah," he said slowly. "You more or less dropped us both like a couple of hot potatoes."

Liz crunched a fist against her forehead. "I know. I did. I know I must have. But somehow…at the time…Gordo….oh, Gordo…I'm so sorry…"

"Hey!" he said suddenly, reaching across the table to take her hand. "Listen to me, Lizzie. Don't cry about it. There's no sense in crying about it now. Spilt milk and all that. What's done is done. And we all survived---"

"Yeah, survived," she repeated bitterly, "but to what end? What good did it do us?"

"It did us all good," David said. "We all got what we wanted. You got to be popular, and somehow---I don't know how, but somehow, you actually got even prettier than you already were, and of course that led to your modeling career, so it's been good for you. And once you were out of the picture, Miranda and I….well, our relationship changed."

Liz sniffed. "I know. I saw you. Even though I really didn't talk to you guys anymore, I always watched you in the hall. You looked so happy together. And I was so jealous of Miranda. So jealous."

"Jealous?" David asked in surprise.

"Yes, of course jealous!" Lizzie confirmed. "Miranda was never supposed to get you as a boyfriend! You were my boyfriend."

"Lizzie," David reminded quietly, "I was never your boyfriend."

"That's right, you never were. But you were supposed to be. Don't you remember? All through eighth grade…and then what about Italy? When I kissed you on the hotel rooftop….Gordo! For such a brain-iack, you certainly were dense about that!"

"I---I---" David objected, but of course there was nothing he could say in his defense.

"I was trying to tell you something with that kiss. I was trying to make you see that I was beginning to realize that you and I….well, it seemed so clear to me that summer, all summer while I was grounded, stuck in my house, and not even allowed to talk to you on the phone. And then, on the first day of school, I wanted to tell you, I wanted to corner you and kiss you again, but…but Tudgeman and that other nerd, Jeffrey Gellar, got to you first, about that Countywide Jeopardy Competition, I heard them talking to you about it. You were so excited about it, so I never got to talk to that day, and the next day it was something else, and then something else, and then…well, eventually, it was just too late. Know what I mean?"

"You mean your feelings about me changed. That quickly?"

Liz nodded, but just barely. "I'm sorry, Gordo. I should have held on a little longer, I should have had more faith in you…more faith in **us**. But also," she went on, "on the first day of school, I couldn't believe what else was happening to me! Kate and Ethan were telling everyone, even all the new kids, about what had happened in Italy with Paolo and me singing at the awards, and everybody wanted to talk to me, everybody wanted to hang out with me, and really soon Kate actually became my friend again, and of course….God! Ethan Craft! You know?"

David winced. Yeah, he knew. He remembered _that_ part of his junior high and high school experience all too well.

"So anyway," Liz went on, "suddenly I was moving in circles I had only dreamed about before. Finally I was…..popular, so I just kind of…well, I kind of forgot about you. I mean, I figured you would always be there for me, right? Good old Gordo, always there for me. I mean, look what you did for me in Italy, how you saved my ass! And by the way, did I ever get to really thank you for that?"

"No, not really," Gordo replied.

"I know!" Liz exclaimed. "I was such a snob, wasn't I! And so self-centered. I made this assumption that whenever I wanted to, I could just come running back to you, tell you how I felt, and you would be there for me.

"But a funny thing happened, something unexpected. Well, two funny things, actually. First, Miranda got back from Mexico, a few weeks later, and you and her started getting really chummy, and then I saw you two kissing in the hall and…._aaargh!_ I can't believe how much this hurts, even now, just remembering how I felt, seeing you two like that."

"Lizzie…" David said in awe. This was all news to him. If only he had known! Well, really, what would he have done? If he had to choose….Miranda….or Lizzie? He couldn't even consider such a thing now, his head was spinning so wildly from everything Lizzie was saying.

But there was nothing to consider, because as Liz went on with her story, she revealed, "And then there was that other thing, that other reason why, eventually, I decided, I could never tell you how I felt about you. It happened over a period of time, actually, but I remember the moment I realized all hope was lost. It was that Jeopardy competition. I went to see it, you know. Kate and Ashley and I went to 'cheer' on our 'team.' And you were so smart up there, Gordo. So smart, and so brilliant, and I was so proud of you. But at the same time that I was proud of you, I was also realizing that…that you could never possibly be interested in me---"

"Lizzie!" he exclaimed, as the revelations kept coming.

"I mean, you could never be interested in the girl I had become. Miss Popularity… Miss Airhead Cheerleader…"

"Lizzie, you were never an airhead."

"But I felt like one, compared to you," she insisted. "And as time went on, it only got worse. You were Captain of the Debate Team, Editor of the School Newspaper. For crying out loud, you and Tudge went to the State Science Fair together! It was even on the News, I watched you on the News! And again, I was so….incredibly proud of you, but feeling so unworthy in comparison. I mean, it got to the point where literally, I was afraid to even talk to you anymore, I was so in awe of how smart you had become, how accomplished, and I was so afraid that I….I just couldn't live up."

"Oh my God! Lizzie! Is that why you stopped talking to me Junior and Senior year?"

Liz hung her head, nodding slowly. "I know it sounds stupid."

"Lizzie, it **is** stupid. That's just about the stupidest thing I ever heard."

"But…but…" Liz objected, "I didn't see how you could possibly respect me anymore. I had totally sold out. I was so…frivolous! You know all those jokes about dumb blondes? Well, that was me, through and through, and I didn't even care. I was so busy with cheering and fashion and my endless string of boyfriends, and I didn't have an original thought to call my own, I only knew and believed what everybody else was saying. Well, not_ everybody_ else. I only paid attention to what the other cheerleaders and jocks were saying. If they weren't talking about it, then I didn't know about it. And I knew that if somehow you and I were to sit down together for two minutes---no! Not even two minutes! One minute!--- you would see right through me, what a big phony I was. If you didn't have me pegged already, Gordo. Which I'm sure you did."

Liz stopped talking and caught her breath. As they sat together, silently, for a moment, they both became aware of their surroundings once again. Now the restaurant was buzzing with conversation and the clinking of glasses and dishes. The waitress appeared, towering over their table, and very pointedly inquired, "Can I get you anything else?"

David glanced at Liz, to see if she wanted to order anything, but she was looking down at the table, and he had a strong suspicion she was crying, or at the very least, about to cry.

"No. No thank you," David told the waitress.

"Well then, I'll just get you your bill---oh wait! Here it is! It seems you already have your bill! Well, imagine that! Whenever you're _ready_---"

"Yeah, yeah," David said absently. "Give us a moment. Okay?"

"Of course…_sir_!"

David looked back at Liz, who still seemed distraught. He reached for his wallet and put a twenty dollar bill on the table. "Come on," he said quietly. "Let's get out of here."

Liz nodded, and a moment later, David was holding her hand, pulling her through the restaurant out on to the now darkened city street. Here the air felt cooler, and thinner, and in the comparative quiet, David heard Liz sniffle.

"I'm so sorry," she said mournfully. "Can you believe me, Gordo, what a dope I am? I mean, what a dope I was, and what a dope I still am. Well, you know what? You've been so good, putting up with me, but I think I've taken up more than enough of your time now, so I guess it would be best if---"

"Don't you dare," David said, grabbing her hand before she could slip away. "You have to at least give me the chance to apologize first."

"Apologize? For what?" she sniffled again.

"For calling you 'stupid' just now."

"But it's true!" Liz insisted. "I _am_ stupid."

"No, you're not," David replied. "Not at all. At least no more stupid that I am."

"What do you mean?" Liz asked in absolute confusion.

"There are two sides to every story, Lizzie, and I'm not going to let you go until you hear my side of this story. Then maybe you won't feel so stupid. Will you walk with me?"

Liz nodded. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know," David said. "It doesn't much matter. I just want to walk with you, because when I tell you what I'm about to tell you, I don't want you to be looking at me. I don't know how I could ever tell you this, if you were looking at me. I would feel way too embarrassed. So would you walk with me?"

"Yes," Liz said, taking his hand in hers as she felt a shiver run up her spine. "Okay, Gordo. Let's walk."

_Next: Sharing Fantasies_


	3. Sharing Fantasies

_Well! This took a lot longer than I ever intended it to! FF was being totally moronic for about a week and not letting me upload this chapter. Then tonight, magically...it's working again! So here is Chapter III, and Chapter IV will be right behind it, in a few days, as long as FF doesn't start freaking out on me again.  
_

_And now….Chapter III: Sharing Fantasies_

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Once they'd made the decision to walk, for a while they didn't talk at all. The city streets were not as crowded as they had been earlier, and the quietness of their surroundings only emphasized the silence between them.

Liz felt so miserable, having pulled out all that ugliness from her past, and yet she was also incredibly curious, wondering what her old friend had to say. She had never been a patient person, and waiting now for David to put his words together was driving her crazy.

It was nearly dark before David spoke at last. "So, anyway…" he began nervously. "Yeah, I want to apologize. I shouldn't have called you stupid. I said you were stupid because you wouldn't talk to me in high school. Because you thought I was too smart for you. Too 'accomplished,' something like that. Right?"

Liz nodded. "Right," she said softly. "Something like that."

"Well…you were no more stupid than me, Lizzie. You see, even if you had ever come by and talked with me, I don't know if I would have been able to talk to you. I mean, I'm not sure I would have been able to string three or four words together in a coherent sentence. It would have probably just been… 'I…uh….well….duh…' You know what I mean."

"No," Liz said. "I don't."

David sighed. Was she purposely making this difficult for him? "What I mean is…all through high school….no, it was even before high school, it was like from eighth grade until practically the day I graduated….I had the biggest crush on you, Lizzie."

"You did?" Liz asked in amazement.

David rolled his eyes. "You _are_ trying to make this difficult for me, aren't you?"

"Difficult? No! Why would I? I just mean….Gordo, I never knew. You never let on, you never said anything…"

"How could I have said anything?" David asked in exasperation. "And not only 'how,' but 'when'? You always had people hanging around you, always had all these…_guys_….swarming around you. Jordan Zeto, Danny Miller, Eric Sommers. Just to name a few. How many boyfriends did you have in high school, anyway? And as soon as you broke up with one, another stepped in to take his place. What do you think? Between Jordan Zeto, the captain of the basketball team, and Zach Petrelli, the student body president, here comes nerdy little Gordo slipping into enemy territory, down on his knees, squeaking 'Oh Lizzie! Lizzie! I love you, I adore you, I can't stop thinking about you! Please, please, will you go out with me?'"

David hadn't meant to sound so bitter and self-depreciating, but any discussion of high school was entirely too likely to dredge up feelings of social inadequacy. This was not comfortable at all. He almost wished he had never run into Lizzie McGuire today. He could be in the library right now, drowning himself in research. Instead, he was found himself admitting his deepest secrets and doubts to the girl of his dreams, the persistent fantasy of his formative years. Surely she would laugh at him.

But Liz did not laugh. "I…I…" she stumbled. "Gordo…I wish I could have gone out with you. I would have liked to. At least…a _part _of me really…really would have liked to."

"Yeah, maybe," Gordo said sullenly. "But not the part that would have ever allowed us to be seen together in public."

Liz was quiet again. He was right. It would have been social self-destruction, at the time. They both knew it.

"Still," Liz said at last. "Even if I couldn't have gone out with you, you should have at least talked to me, at least said 'hi' to me in the hallway."

David laughed contemptuously. "No, I couldn't have."

"You mean because of how popular I was?" Liz asked miserably. "Or because of what I just told you? About how terrified I was to talk to you, to let you see the real me?"

"No, none of that," David said. "Lizzie, I guess I haven't expressed myself well enough. Let me make myself clear. Through most of high school I had a crush on you. And I mean 'crush' in the worst possible way. Squash, squeeze, compress, mash, pound…defeat. The mere thought of you, Lizzie, absolutely defeated me. I don't want to scare you, but I was sort of….obsessed with you."

"Gordo…."

"There were months on end when I couldn't think about anything else _but_ you. Sometimes it was worse than other times. Sometimes, if I passed you in the hall, I would smell strawberries---"

"It was my shampoo," Liz informed. "I love strawberry shampoo. I still do."

"Yeah, well, if I got a whiff of that," David confessed, "I was a goner. I could hardly think of anything else but you for the rest of the day. Of course, there were some times, when I had a girlfriend, then it wasn't quite as bad, wasn't quite as debilitating, but during those times when I was alone….well, let's just say burying myself in my schoolwork seemed the only thing that could keep the fantasies at bay. Schoolwork for hours and hours on end, so by the end of the night, I was too tired to do anything but fall into bed, exhausted. So, in a way, Lizzie McGuire, I guess I have you to thank for my fabulous scholarship."

This last stab at humor has been David's feeble attempt to lighten the mood, but the irony of the situation had gone completely over Liz's head. She was stuck back at something he had said earlier, and almost before she could stop herself, she said, "So…Gordo…you had fantasies about me?"

David laughed again. "Oh…yeah…"

"So by that I guess you mean…."

They walked silently again, Liz's unfinished sentence hanging in the dark air between them.

"Well," she tried again. "Were they the kind of fantasies where…you know…"

Again, the silence, as they continued walking. Liz struggled, at last coming up with, "I mean, were they---"

"Sexual fantasies?" David supplied, deciding there was no use now in holding anything back. "Yes. They were. Very sexual, some of them."

"And others?"

"Not so sexual. Some were…kind of romantic, I guess you could say. Some were heroic, like the one where Roy Flanders was getting a little too rough with you---cos I always suspected he was too rough with you, I didn't like the way he treated you, Lizzie, and I was really glad when you broke up with him after only two weeks---but anyway, in this fantasy, he's roughing you up, and I come in and beat the crap out of him. Send him to the hospital."

David stopped to take a deep breath, then, "Of course, you're so grateful, you're all over me, kissing me, and touching me, your strawberry hair all over my face, and you are so willing to do anything…absolutely anything… to thank me, so yeah…in the end, that was a sexual fantasy too."

"Gordo!"

"What?"

"I…I….I never thought…"

"What?" he questioned derisively. "You never thought of me as someone who would have sexual thoughts about you?"

"Well…yeah…."

"Lizzie. After your appearance in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue last year, believe me, every functioning heterosexual male in the universe is having sexual fantasies about you."

"But not you!" Liz objected.

"Why not?"

"Because you're my friend. At least you were. Once…"

"Things change, Lizzie. We haven't been friends for a very long time."

"I'd like us to be," Liz said. "I really would, Gordo. Do you think that's possible?"

David gave the matter some thought, then announced, "No, I don't really think that's going to work for me."

Liz felt devastated. "Why not?" she asked. "Is it because of how badly I treated you in high school? That's it, isn't it? You're never going to forgive me."

"No, that's not it at all! That's all water under the bridge. But what's…_not_….water under the bridge, so to speak….is the way I feel about you. Now."

David took a deep breath again and went on. "Just being with you here now….today….remembering you, and recalling all my thoughts about you all these years…it's happening again, Lizzie. I thought I was over you. But I'm starting to realize my feelings for you were not dead after all, they were only sleeping. And seeing you again today has woken me up, and….well, it's not easy."

David sighed, shoving his hands deep in his pockets. "Sorry, Lizzie. This is one of those things where it has to be 'all, or nothing at all.' Anything in between would be just too painful. But I don't suppose you would understand that. I can't imagine that you've ever had to deal with anything like that. I'm sure you've always gotten everything you've ever wanted, any_one_ you've ever wanted. I'm sure you've only had to snap your fingers, and there they were."

"That's not true!" Liz objected vehemently.

"Oh, it's not?" David challenged. "Then tell me. When has it ever happened to you, that you've wanted someone, and haven't been able to get them? I'm sorry, Lizzie, but I just don't see how that could have ever happened to you."

"But it did! It did!" Liz said. "And…and…"

"And what?" David demanded, surprised at how angry he felt. "No, on second thought, don't tell me. I don't think I really want to hear about this. It would just make me…it would just be…"

Damn! He wished he could be anywhere but here. He was not going to allow this female to tear his heart to shreds once again. He had to get out of here. "Listen ---" he began, hoping to find the words to gracefully bow out.

But Liz had another idea. "No! You listen, David Gordon!" she said, stopping short and making him turn to look at her. "You _do_ need to hear about this."

"Why? What the hell good is it going to do---?"

"I don't know if it's going to do any good at all, but you need to hear this. Because, yes, once upon a time there was someone I wanted, someone I actually even….fantasized about….and I knew I could never have him, and that hurt. It hurt me so much, and I think, in a way, maybe I've never really gotten over him. I think maybe all my life I've known….I've known…."

As Liz's words faded, her face softened, and as that happened, David also felt his anger at her dissapaiting. "Lizzie," he said quietly, confused. "What is it? Who are you talking about?"

"You moron!" she exclaimed, punching him in the arm. "It's you, Gordo! Don't you know that? It's you!"

"Me?" David asked. No, this couldn't be happening. Sure, Lizzie has been unintentionally cruel to him all through high school, but to lie like this to him now---

As Liz's hand rose up to touch the side of his face, David reached out and grabbed it, stopping her. "Enough, Lizzie. This isn't funny."

"I'm not trying to be funny," she said desperately. "I'm trying to tell you. There was this time….this one time, really, it was just as we were graduating from high school, and you were the valedictorian, remember?"  
"Of course I remember."

"And…and as I sat there in my cap and gown, and I looked up at you, delivering your speech, once again, Gordo, I was so…so proud of you. And I remember how suddenly it came back to me that once upon a time, we used to be friends. And that I couldn't have asked for a better friend. And then I remembered also how I had felt about you, at the end of eighth grade, and what happened in Italy, and how I had spent the whole summer wanting to see you again, and talk to you, and tell you how I felt, how I was beginning to develop these….feelings for you…."

"Nostalgia," David said, still afraid to get drawn in by her words.

"But it was more than that," Liz insisted. "After that night, graduation night, I couldn't stop thinking about you. I couldn't help thinking that somehow I had missed the boat. That there was….another path I was supposed to have traveled, that I had allowed myself to get sidetracked, that maybe I should have stuck with you and Miranda, and the hell with Kate and her whole gang, and the cheerleading, and all that stuff…."

"Hindsight," David theorized. "Regrets."

"No! Well, yes, it was, of course. But it was real too. And what else was real, all that summer, after you'd gone off to college, I kept having this thought….this dream…this…."

"Fantasy?" David dared to supply.

"Yes. It was a fantasy. I kept seeing us together, I kept seeing us so happy, going off to college together, taking classes together, hanging out, making up for lost time. And in these fantasies, you always forgave me completely for how horribly I treated you in high school. It was all behind us, and we were back where we were meant to be. Like I said before, you were always meant to be my boyfriend, and in this fantasy, at last, you were…"

David steadied himself before asking, "Your boyfriend?"

"Yes," Liz said, putting her hands on his arms as her eyes reached up to search out his reaction.

"And as your…boyfriend….in these fantasies…." David tried, feeling light and peculiar to even be discussing something like this with Lizzie McGuire, "does that mean we…did we…?"

"We kissed," Liz confirmed. "And we hugged a lot. And held hands, of course. And sometimes…."

David cleared his throat. "Sex?"

Liz closed her eyes. "Sort of," she said quietly.

"Sort of?"

"I….I….I'm too embarrassed to talk about it. God! I can hardly believe I've told you this much already."

"I can't believe it either, Lizzie. You're not….I mean, this isn't some cruel joke, is it?"

This time, when she reached up to touch his face, he didn't stop her. "No," Liz said simply. "The last eight years of my life have been the cruel joke. This…now…here with you….no joke."

"Well, I…." David put his hand over hers on his face, and closed his eyes. Could this really be happening? He felt strange. In a moment, he opened his eyes and said, "Okay then. If this is really happening, and you're not playing around with me--"

"I'm not. I swear."

"Well then, Lizzie, tell me this: where do we go from here?"

-

_ Where we go from here is into the final chapter, "Comes True." _


	4. Comes True

_One of my reviewers has requested me to "get down and dirty" and not be so sweet. That's not my style, but I'm happy with what I have written here. I hope you will be too.  
_

_ True, this story, which I am finishing up now, was not heavily plotted, and I hope my next one, where I return to my Gordo series, will be full of action and events and lots of teen angst. This will be the story that comes directly after Gordo's Girls, and immediately before Overcome, thus filling a big hole in the narrative. But in the meantime...please enjoy this last chapter of What's Stopping Us Now?_

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_-_

Where did they go from here?

The question hung in the cool night air, encircling them, isolating them. For a moment, they felt frozen in time, and it seemed in that moment that all the years since the rooftop kiss had disappeared, and now they might have the chance to get it right at last. Both hoped for the best, but considering the history between them, were prepared for far less.

Liz's eyes were tearing up. David's heart was about to jump out of his chest. If she didn't say something soon, he would have to, despite the fact that he felt quite sure the moment he spoke, this magic would evaporate, and they would go back to being Lizzie and Gordo, two foolish kids who never quite found their way to each other.

Another moment more, and the magic was---if not broken, at least bent. Two teenage boys passed by, whispering and pointing. "Is it her? It's her! No! Is it?"

Lizzie sighed and turned her head. She was used to this. When she went out in ratty old clothes, without makeup, or with her long golden tresses bunched up under a cap, she could deflect a lot of attention, but on occasion some of her more diehard fans still recognized her. Now she hoped to be at least disguised by the darkness, but for a moment, her beauty shone through the darkness. It passed through David's mind that Lizzie was an angel, surrounded by a halo of light.

After a few awkward moments, the boys passed, fading into the night, and Liz at last said, "I'll tell you where we can't go from here. We can't go back to my hotel. There was some paparazzi buzz there earlier today. They might be waiting for me to come back. I just can't face them now, not now, not with you----oh, Gordo!" she interrupted herself, mortified. "I didn't mean---It's not that I'm ashamed---"

"It's okay, Lizzie," David said, gently. "I know what you meant. And frankly, I'm not much in the mood for other people right now either. I just want to be with you."

"Then….can we go somewhere? Together? Can we go… to your place, Gordo?"

David let out a deep breath. Could this really be happening? He felt himself begin to tingle all over. Was it true? Had Lizzie McGuire just asked if they could go to his place? "I---I---" he stumbled, overwhelmed.

"Of course if you'd rather not---"

"No!" David objected, squeezing her hands. "That's not what I meant. Not what I mean at all! It's just….oh my God, Lizzie…."

"I know," she agreed quietly, shyly.

"I….I…"

Liz giggled a little, nervously. "You said that already," she teased.

Now David smiled, feeling warm all over. "We should take a cab," he suggested. "It's kinda far."

Liz looked him straight in the eye, her gaze piercing straight through him. "Okay then. Let's get a cab."

Two minutes later they were seated in the back of a cab, holding hands in the dark, listening to the cab driver, a new arrival from some distant shore, share his impressions of New York in an accent so thick neither Liz not David could quite understand what he was saying.

Not that they much cared what he was saying. All they could think about now was that they were together, and soon, very soon, they would be alone. Alone together. They squeezed each other's hands between them, and periodically smiled politely to the cab driver, agreeing "Oh yes! Of course! You don't say!" even though they had no idea what he was saying or what they were agreeing to. At one point Liz nuzzled her head against David's neck and the scent of strawberries in her hair overpowered him. He lifted her hand and kissed it.

"Oh! Oh! This is it!" David called out at last. The cab driver came to a screeching halt, offering a few more unintelligible words. Lizzie pressed some bills into his hand, saying, "Thanks! It's been…educational!" as she and David sprang from the back seat.

Out on the curb again, they enjoyed a brief laugh, stumbling into each other, before turning towards the ramshackle brownstone building.

"Oh, yeah…" David began slowly, sobering. "I guess I should have told you. It's not…well, the scholarship is good, of course, but there hasn't been much money left for…you know… the niceties."

"I don't care," Liz said simply.

"I'm sure it's not what you're used to---"

"Gordo. I don't care. Honestly."

"But---"

"If you say another word about it, I'm going to….I'm going to have to…"

He looked at her, unable to keep a smile from expanding on his face. "Going to have to… _what?_" he asked, teasingly.

"Oh…I don't know," she said breezily. "I'll think of something. Can we go in now, Gordo? Please?"

He took her hand and led her up the tall steps, through a battered front door, and down a long dim hallway. A part of him was still embarrassed for Lizzie to see how pitiful his living conditions were, but she actually seemed fascinated, whispering, "Gordo, are you a starving student? A starving artist? Are you a…a…what's the word? A bo-something."

"A Bohemian," David supplied, as they reached his door and he inserted the key. "Yeah, I guess you might say that. I keep reminding myself: it builds character."

"Character," Liz said as she passed through the doorway into the tiny apartment, "is one thing you have always had, Mr. Gordon. In abundance."

"Did you just call me Mr. Gordon?"

"I know. That was silly, wasn't it? It's just that I…I feel so comfortable with you, Gordo. I feel like I can kid around with you. I feel like…"

She had completed her slow turn around the room, seeing everything from the movie posters over the sloppily made bed, to the collection of ceiling to floor books, to the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink. Now, once again, she focused on her companion and said, "I feel like I know you."

"You do know me, Lizzie."

"I mean, I feel like no time has passed. Like I have always known you. Like high school never happened. Or the four years since. I feel like we're back where we're supposed to be. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yes, I do," David agreed. "I feel it too. But there's one major difference."

Liz took a step closer. David had not turned on any lights, save a lava lamp on a table next to the front door, as was his custom upon arriving home, and the gentle glow of novelty lighting made Lizzie look more dreamy and ethereal than ever before.

"What's different?" Liz dared to wonder.

David took a step closer to her. "I don't feel afraid anymore," he said softly, reaching up to touch her hair. "I'm still bedazzled by your beauty, Lizzie, still intoxicated by your sweetness, but I'm not afraid to…be with you…or…touch you… like this. Or….like this…."

Here he pulled himself closer still, touching her lips with his own. He heard a gentle gasp escape her, surprised for a moment, but immediately after, he felt the tip of her tongue advancing towards his own.

Now he gasped, and Lizzie pulled back a moment, smiling at him playfully. "And I'm not afraid, either, Gordo. You don't intimidate me, with…with your books and your mighty brain, and all your Bohemian ways. You know who I am, I haven't tried to hide anything from you. I've been more honest with you tonight than…well, than I've been with anyone in a long time. You see me. And you still like me."

"I do," David confirmed.

"And I like you, " Lizzie said. "As I always have."

"As I always have," he echoed.

"So then….as the saying goes…" Liz whispered, leaning her forehead against his, "what's stopping us now?"

Assuming this was a rhetorical question, David did not answer. Unless his taking her face tenderly between his hands and once again finding her lips with his own could be considered an answer. And in reply, Liz once again teased him with her tongue, till after many, many delightful moments, it was far less teasing and far more out-and-out kissing.

Yes, they were kissing. Lizzie and Gordo, together at last, alone and lip-locked, immensely enjoying the sensations of each other, as they only had in fantasies, so many years ago. There was no light, save the glow of the lava lamp, there was no sound, save the gently moans that escaped each of them, now with greater and greater frequency and urgency.

As that urgency increased, soon, somehow, they found themselves seated on the bed, next to each other, kissing passionately, and now laying down on the bed, facing each other. Was this happening all too fast? They took a moment to catch their breath, gazing at each other across a shared pillow.

"Lizzie…" David began. "I don't want you to think…"

"No, Gordo! I…I don't want _you_ to think…" Lizzie replied, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"We're not in middle school anymore," David reminded, stroking her shoulder. "We're not fourteen. We're adults." He ran his hand over her hair, hardly able to believe how beautiful she looked to him just now.

Liz also had her hands in his hair. Oh, how many times she had wanted to do this, to grab his gorgeous curly hair, to feel it against her skin, to use this grip to pull him closer into her, pull him in for a deeper kiss.

As she kissed him, and he kissed back, her boldness touch him, and he responded with some boldness of his own, spreading his hands around her tiny waist, reaching inside her shirt, traveling up towards her bra. He found himself uncontrollably drawn towards her breasts, everything within him intent upon unraveling the enduring mystery of what Lizzie McGuire's breasts must feel like. Hours of his life had been spent in deep contemplation on this very subject, and now….now….

Liz moaned as he pulled down her bra straps and grabbed her, fully, unflinchingly. "Oh, Gordo…" she breathed, as she melted under his touch.

"Lizzie," he whispered hoarsely in her ear before kissing it, then licking it, then letting his tongue work its way down her face, her neck, her shoulders.

She shivered. How was it possible this could feel this good? He was doing things to her no one else had been able to do, touching her in a way she had never before known she would respond to. She wanted to give him more and more.

David felt dizzy, unable to get enough. He supposed this was what happened when you wanted something too much and waited far too long. He was on overload, and the sensation of being about to explode was more than simply psychological.

The clothes had to go. He had enough sense left about him to realize this, but almost as soon as the thought occurred to him, Liz was unzipping him. It was as if she could read his mind.

Liz was, in fact, not exactly reading his mind, but of the _same mind,_ working towards the same goal. And so together they undressed each other, and rubbed against each other, and clung to each other.

It had never felt like this before for either of them, this sense of being swept along on the same wave, enjoying the ride which took them higher and higher until the pinnacle was reached, and then, as their minds began to clear, they returned to a plane which felt so much more like reality. If there was one thought in both their minds as they lay back on Gordo's sloppy bed, naked and sweating and full of bliss, it was that something like this did not happen by accident.

They lay quietly for a moment, holding hands, till Liz propped herself up on her elbow to look down in her lover's face. "Gordo," she said with certainty. "I'm glad we're not fourteen anymore. I'm glad we're adults. I'm glad we're past all that silly nonsense that always stood in our way. I want to be with you."

David gathered Liz in his arms and said, "And I want to be with you, too, Lizzie."

She squeezed him tightly. "You know what, Gordo? I love you. I think I've always loved you."

David squeezed her back, tears coming into his eyes. "Worth waiting for," he whispered as he kissed her hair, intoxicated by the sweet scent of strawberries.


End file.
